Marking Out... From My Couch: 2011 Year End Awards

You'll have to excuse my absence, I meant to begin writing here when the site first opened, however several lengthy work weeks and Shadow of the Colossus got in my way. I'm samx1605 and I will be writing the column "Marking Out.... From My Couch." I figured the easiest way to show my thoughts on pro-wrestling at first was to do my end of the year awards. Sadly, we just got ROH in my town less than 2 months ago so this list is going to be pretty much all WWE or TNA, for that I apologize.

Let's get to this, shall we?

Shocking Moment of the Year: Edge announcing his retirement.

This was the easiest decision for me to make, Edge has been a staple of pro wrestling for the past 13 years. Rumors of his neck issues and retirement had circulated late last year and even early this year. Edge seemingly put those to rest Wrestlemania weekend saying he thought he had 5 years left in his career before retirement, he seemed happy and confident saying this. Less than two weeks later he came out on RAW and announced he was retiring at the urging of his doctors. The two speeches he gave that week were awesome, his Smackdown one had a moment that really stuck out to me. When he thanked his mother and then the crowd busted out into a "hall of fame" chant. I really hope WWE follows up on that chant, because Edge deserves it.

Honorable Mentions: Jeff Hardy at Victory Road, CM Punk winning at Money In The Bank, Diesel at the Royal Rumble.

Breakout Star of 2011: Zack Ryder

If you are remotely surprised by this choice, you need to rethink why you watch pro wrestling. Earlier this year you couldn't convince me that Z:TLIS! would not end any other way than Ryder getting fired. I am quite happy to be wrong, seriously from curtain jerking house shows to having Hugh Fucking Jackman be his corner man. Triple H was laughing in the face of broskis earlier this year (episode 7 of Z:TLIS where he knocks Ryder's popularity) and now Ryder is the US Champ, that's the power of the internet.

Honorable Mentions: Cody Rhodes, Bobby Roode (as a singles wrestler)

Underused Wrestler of the Year: Samoa Joe

Joe was one of the only interesting things about TNA to me for a long time. He had size and speed, plus I have to admit the fact the first shirt TNA released for him just said "Joe's gonna kill you!" was a large selling point. Feuds with Kurt Angle, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, and Abyss. Samoa Joe was unstoppable and on top of TNA for years, but now, he is in some tag team tournament with random teams placed together and appearing on their international show. I hope Joe either goes back to the top of TNA where he belongs or goes to WWE, with a rousing endorsement by Stone Cold and his personal friendships with CM Punk, Cena, and Daniel Bryan I doubt it would be that hard to convince WWE to sign him.

Honorable Mentions: Alex Riley, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger

Worst Match of the Year: Sting v. Jeff Hardy

Everything about this match screamed that it should have been pulled from the card, to this day I still wonder who said it was OK to let Hardy walk through the curtain. From the moment Hardy came down the ramp it was obvious he was messed up and in no condition to wrestle, much less with a 50 yr old born again Christian who is considered a legend. Sting came down content to remain as professional as possible when an audible was called and Bischoff came down to inform the ref, Sting, and Hardy of the new way the match would go down. Eighty eight seconds from bell to bell, about a minute of that is Hardy heckling the crowd before Sting hits a few punches, a splash, his finisher and its over. No crowd reaction but confusion took place at first, as the show went off the air the very loud "BULLSHIT" chants were met by Sting shouting that he agreed and applauded the crowd. The aftermath of this saw Hardy sent home for the better part of six months while he got clean, hopefully he stays that way this time around.

Honorable Mentions: Nothing comes close to how awful this match was.

Match of the Year: CM Punk v. John Cena (Money In The Bank)

This match did what so many matches now forget to do: tell a story. Punk was quitting WWE, frustrated with how he was being mistreated and under used, he was also adamant about taking the title with him when he left. Cena, on the other hand was who always is the company man, champion, and role model. Punk wins, WWE has no champion and Cena is fired. Cena wins, he saves WWE. The other thing you have to keep in mind for this match that added, the crowd: they were HOT for Punk and HATED Cena in Chicago. There were 6 of us watching the show we had ordered, screaming at the TV as we were divided down the middle between Punk fans and Cena fans. When the three count hit and Punk won the room ERUPTED as we all (drunkenly) yelled at the TV. Then we watched Punk run through the crowd and out of the arena as champ, it was an awesome match, and that doesn't even include me talking about the fact the match time was nearly 35 minutes long.

Honorable Mentions: Undertaker v. Triple H (Wrestlemania), Bobby Roode v. AJ Styles (Final Resolution)

Feud of the Year: Dolph Ziggler v. Zack Ryder

What made this feud different is it took place online more than on air. Ryder started his petition for a title shot after it was refused to him, Ziggler began to "hack" into Z:TLIS and attack Ryder at the end of shows. It was the feud Ryder wanted and the feud to help solidify Ziggler as a top heel in WWE since he was against this years "internet darling." Their matches on RAW and on the two PPV's they faced off on were all good and the TLC match was the story book ending Ryder deserved for the awesome year he has had, I can't wait to see where they go with this in 2012.

Honorable Mentions: Matt Hardy v. Good decision making (couldn't resist that one) , Orton v. Barett

Alright, last one.

Wrestler of the Year: CM Punk

There was a lot of internal conflict to pick Punk or Ziggler for this, both are deserving and both have had amazing years, difference is Punk has been in the main event all year. In all honesty I have to say here is what it boils down to, Punk had a few smaller feuds at the beginning of the year but it was the promo on RAW that made you know this was going to be his time to shine.... don't act like you don't know which promo I'm talking about. If you don't just think of this phrase "Hey, Colt Cabana. How ya doin'?" After that promo it was headlining pay per view after pay per view if it wasn't for the title it was either against Triple H or teaming with him. His title win at Money in the Bank was shocking, but his title win at Survivor Series in MSG was emotional. From bringing The Fink out to do his introduction all the way to diving into the crowd after he won, the era of Punk was in full effect. Hopefully the momentum carries into 2012 and into a feud with Jericho as most people are expecting. Personally, I wanna see Ziggler v. Punk for the title in 2012... and not just on an episode of RAW.

Honorable Mentions: Dolph Ziggler

There you have it, my picks for best of the year in 2011. I will be back later this week with my next article, enjoy reading.